Iraq says it will destroy four Al Samoud 2 missiles

Iraq said it would destroy four Al Samoud 2 missiles today, as ordered by UN weapons inspectors.

The news came from Odai al-Taie, head of the information department at Iraq’s Information Ministry.

He said the Al Samoud 2 missiles would be destroyed today in the Al-Taji area, 20 miles north of Baghdad, which has several factories involved in missile production.

Al-Taie also said a team of UN weapons inspectors would seize a mould used to make solid fuel at the Al Rasheed Company "in order to prepare it for destruction tomorrow".

Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix ordered the destruction of the finned white rockets because tests indicated some could fly farther than allowed. He praised the Iraqi decision to comply with his order, saying: “It is a very significant piece of real disarmament.”

Blix’s chief deputy, Demetrius Perricos, met this morning with Saddam Hussein’s scientific adviser, Lt. Gen. Amer al-Saadi to finalise details of the destruction.

Al-Taie said the two sides discussed technical points and "agreed on a schedule and a work plan for the coming days".

He said they also agreed on “the sites of destruction, the manner of destruction and the priorities”.

Inspectors’ spokesman Hiro Ueki said the talks produced ”good news”, and that he expected the destruction to begin within hours.

Ueki also announced that the inspectors had resumed interviews with Iraqi scientists, interviewing a biological weapons expert and a missile expert on Friday evening – the first such interviews since February 7.

“This is positive news,” Ueki said.

The two developments – both key demands of the weapons inspectors – were likely to affect next week’s address to the UN Security Council by Blix.

The United States and Britain have threatened Iraq with war if it doesn’t comply with the inspections.